Indian Contract Act, 1872 — Exam-Ready Cheatsheet
The foundation of every commercial transaction. Master offer/acceptance, consideration, capacity, free consent, and void agreements — they reappear every attempt.
Last reviewed: 22 April 2026
The equation
- •Contract = Agreement + Enforceability by law (Sec 2(h)).
- •Agreement = Offer + Acceptance (Sec 2(e)).
- •An agreement without consideration is void (Sec 25) — except the four listed exceptions (love & affection, past services, time-barred debt, completed gift).
Offer (Sec 2(a))
- •Must be certain, communicated, and intend to create legal relations.
- •Invitation to offer (menu, price list, advertisement) ≠ offer.
- •Lapses: by revocation before acceptance, by non-acceptance within time, by death/insanity of offeror IF offeree knows, by counter-offer.
Acceptance (Sec 2(b))
- •Must be absolute and unqualified (the 'mirror image' rule).
- •Must be expressed in usual/reasonable manner OR prescribed manner.
- •Mental acceptance is not acceptance; silence is not acceptance.
- •Complete — against proposer: when put in transmission; against acceptor: when reaches proposer.
Consideration (Sec 2(d))
- •Must move at the desire of the promisor.
- •May be past, present, or future.
- •Must be real — not illusory, illegal, or impossible.
- •Need not be adequate (court won't measure — only that it exists).
Capacity (Sec 11)
- •Must be major (18+), of sound mind, and not disqualified by law.
- •Minor's agreement is void ab initio (Mohori Bibee v Dharmodas Ghose).
- •Persons of unsound mind: contract made during 'lucid interval' is valid.
- •Necessaries supplied to a minor → reimbursement from minor's property (Sec 68), not personally.
Free consent (Sec 13–22)
- •Coercion (Sec 15): committing or threatening act forbidden by IPC.
- •Undue influence (Sec 16): relationship allows one to dominate the other's will.
- •Fraud (Sec 17): intentional misrepresentation with intent to deceive.
- •Misrepresentation (Sec 18): innocent false statement.
- •Mistake (Sec 20): mistake of fact essential to agreement → void. Mistake of law → not void (ignorance of law is no excuse).
Void agreements
- •Without consideration (Sec 25).
- •In restraint of marriage / trade / legal proceedings (Sec 26, 27, 28).
- •Uncertain, wagering, or impossible to perform (Sec 29, 30, 56).
Must know before the exam
- ★Void vs Voidable: Void = not enforceable at all. Voidable = enforceable at option of one party (usually the one whose consent was not free).
- ★Consideration must be 'something in return'. 'Natural love and affection' works only under Sec 25(1) — must be written, registered, near relations.
- ★Offer can be revoked any time before acceptance is complete against the proposer.
- ★Counter-offer kills the original offer — cannot be re-accepted later.
Common mistakes & fixes
- ✗ Treating agreement and contract as synonyms.
- ✓ Every contract is an agreement, but not every agreement is a contract (only enforceable ones).
- ✗ Saying a minor's contract is voidable.
- ✓ Minor's agreement is VOID AB INITIO — not voidable.
- ✗ Confusing Fraud and Misrepresentation.
- ✓ Fraud has INTENT to deceive; Misrepresentation is innocent.
Lock it in with practice
Reading without practising is the #1 reason people forget in the exam. Solve a quick set while this is fresh.